Student column: Enjoying small town living

When people ask me where I’m from they are always astounded by my response. I always get the same questions; Why would you move here? Is it different? Do you like it?

The truth is I love everything about this town; it’s better than any big city.

For the past seven years I have been living in Colorado Springs, Colo. I just recently move to the lovely town of Riverside, which is a huge adjustment compared to Colorado Springs. The population of Colorado Springs is 426,388, which is 8,199 times larger thanthe town I’m living in now. In fact, there were more people in my old high school then there are in Riverside and Encampment combined. Believe it or not it actually doesn’t bug me that much. I actually enjoy going to a small school and living a small town.

The main reason I came here was because I was having a miserable time at my old school. Your senior year is suppose to be one of the best years of your life, not your worst. I was attending a huge school and I wasn’t doing to well in my classes. Since I’ve moved here my GPA has gone up a substantial amount. The teachers are amazing and they actually care if you succeed.

My previous school couldn’t care less if I passed or failed, which is probably the reason behind why their dropout rate is much larger compared to ours. I also moved here because I didn’t like the people I was surrounded by. Everyone here is so nice and genuine. This whole town honestly is just one big family.

Wyoming compared to Colorado has some pretty outrageous differences, but good differences. The drug use rate here is a lot lower; I came from a school were kids were getting suspended left and right for possessing drugs. Colorado has a drug use rate of 13.34 percent, compared to Wyoming which has a rate of 6.71 precent.

Also there barely any crime here; I leave my house unlocked, my keys in my car, and I leave my locker unlocked at school. If I did any of that in Colorado I wouldn’t have a car, my house would be missing a few belongings, and my iPhone would probably be getting sold on eBay. One of my favorite things about this town is that is really easy to find a job here, if you know the right people you can get a job anywhere; I wasn’t here for a day before I found a job. My absolute favorite part about living here though is probably the traffic, it doesn’t exist, I can get anywhere I need to be in less then five minutes.

Yes, there has been some culture shock. I can’t even begin to put in words how much I miss McDonalds. I would give my left leg to have a Big Mac. There’s also nothing I would love more than being able to go see a movie without driving 60 miles. Shopping, I miss shopping so much. I used to go the the mall once a week in Colorado. You never really realize how little things like fast food, movie theaters, and shopping are so important to you.

But it is not a bad thing, I have lost weight since I’ve moved here because I don’t eat fast food everyday and I have saved up so much money because I don’t spend money on anything. I haven’y spent a penny because everything fun around here is free; I love it. I have had to adapt a lot to my environment; but if animals can do it, why cant I?

So basically what I’m saying is that Wyoming is probably the best place you could possibly live; the people are great, the schools are amazing and there’s no traffic. What more could you ask for? When I moved away from my parents I was terrified about whether or not I was making the right decision, but in the short time I have lived here I know what I did was the right decision and it’s the best thing that has ever happened to me.

 

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